Great Way Of Life

January 15, 1986

AS A transplanted Northerner, I never expected to find a utopia in Florida. What I did find was a way of life that is far less expensive than my husband and I had in New Hampshire. A letter writer criticized Florida salaries and living costs and compared them with those in California and the North. Why did she move?

She wonders how people on a retirement check manage in Florida. We wouldn't be ''retired'' if we still lived in the North. For example, for the comparable house we have in Florida, we paid $1,500 a year in New Hampshire property taxes, but our Florida taxes are less than $200.